This is where Todd Thyberg is going with the limited-edition, letterpress poster he’s designing for the FaithForward Kickstarter campaign. There’s some text and trimmings to come, and you can have one with support of just $75.
We have just three days to raise another $2,500—every little bit helps and counts. Please go beyond a “like” and make an investment today, to help Faith Forward make a splash in rural Minnesota.
Here’s the link to our Kickstarter fundraising page.
Thank you!
- matt
We’ve got 10 days to go on our Kickstarter fundraising campaign and are $3,000 short of our goal.
If we reach our goal, we’ll use the money to go to eight cities in the furthest reaches of Minnesota—International Falls, Morris, Blue Earth and elsewhere—to interview progressive priests, pastors and other supporters of marriage equality. Through hearing the voices of their neighbors—people they can better relate to—we’re hoping voters in the so-called “moveable middle” will see that voting NO in November does align with their core religious values.
Contributions as small as $5 bring Thank You gifts. So please visit our Kickstarter page today and contribute whatever you can. It’ll mean a lot to me, and to the Vote NO effort.
Thank you!
- Matt
I’m excited to have just launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund Faith Forward’s forays this summer into outstate Minnesota.
As you know, the vote on the anti-marriage amendment will hinge on inspiring and turning out voters in rural Minnesota, where faith plays a strong role in political outcomes. By interviewing and posting videos of progressive faith leaders in towns from Bemidji and Blue Earth, Morris to Marshall, Sauk Rapids to Grand Rapids, voters will see their own people speaking to them about faith and marriage equality. Hopefully, by hearing their own neighbors speak with heart and sincerity, they’ll look inward and see that a “NO” vote is a faithful vote.
But I can’t do this without your help. There are two really important ways you can help me:
1) Spread the word. Tweet or write a Facebook status update nudging the people you know to support Faith Forward. Make sure to include this shortlink in whatever you post: http://goo.gl/f1ARU
2) Make an investment of your own. There are some great rewards for investments as small as $5.
I have through June 7 to raise $4,000—if I fall short of that goal, I receive none of the pledged investments.
Here’s the link to my Kickstarter campaign page. Please go there now, watch the short video, check out the great rewards and support this work.
Thank you for any investment!
— Matt
The Gay-Straight Alliance from the Breck School invited Faith Forward in to one of its weekly meetings. These are excerpts from a conversation focusing on gay marriage and faith.
David Lohman is a faith work coordinator with the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force. He’s also a composer with a deep background in musical theater. Those tracks of Lohman’s life came together when he composed the hymn “For All the Children.” Catholics for Marriage Equality, at the urging of former priest Jim Smith, recently funded and organized the making of a music video around that hymn. More than 300 Catholics and others packed Cavalry Lutheran Church in Minneapolis for fellowship and song in front of the cameras. Faith Forward MN captured the day. Catholics for Marriage Equality hopes to have its edited music video ready for distribution sometime this summer.
About 200 Catholics, most of whom appeared to be seniors, spent this past Saturday gathering answers to the question “Can faithful Catholics vote ‘No?’” on the anti-marriage amendment on the November ballot in Minnesota. The “Call to Action,” at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul, featured local and national guest speakers and a performance by Project 515, whose original show is based upon the 515 laws already on Minnesota books that discriminate against homosexual individuals and couples.
In this video produced by Catholics for Marriage Equality, one Minnesota couple—devoted Catholics—speak about their love for their gay son and wish for him to have the same rights and opportunities as their other three sons.
Rabbi Melissa Simon, the Director of Lifelong Learning at Minneapolis’ Shir Tikvah Synagogue, discusses the religious texts supporting same-sex relationships and challenges the notion that marital status should dictate access to hospital visitation rights and access health care. This is a 5-minute excerpt of a 30-minute interview.
In this video from ↬ Minnesotans United for All Families, Pastor Erik Strand of Edina Community Lutheran Church, who has been married 37 years, discusses the religious calling behind a “No” vote on the anti-marriage amendment.
A spectrum of faith leaders who opened Thursday by lobbying at the State Capitol closed the day in a multifaith service , called Of Hope and Light, at Mount Zion Temple in St. Paul.
